


Obsession

by thebasement_archivist



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Fiction, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-11-02
Updated: 2003-11-02
Packaged: 2018-11-20 07:19:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11331090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebasement_archivist/pseuds/thebasement_archivist
Summary: Doggett becomes obsessed with the subject of his investigation.





	Obsession

**Author's Note:**

> Note from alice ttlg, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [The Basement](http://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Basement), which moved to the AO3 to ensure the stories are always available and so that authors may have complete control of their own works. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in June 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [The Basement's collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/thebasement/profile).

Obsession

### Obsession

#### by Jo B

  


Title: Obsession 

Author: Jo B 

Keywords: M/D Slash 

Rating: NC-17 

Chapter Summary: Doggett becomes obsessed with the subject of his investigation. 

Spoilers: Season 8 and some from previous seasons. 

Disclaimer: The X-Files characters are the property Chris Carter, 1013 productions and Fox Broadcasting. No money is being made from their use. 

Warning! This story contains romance between two men. Turn back now, if the subject matter offends you. 

Archive: Yes, please leave my name attached. 

Author notes: This story is for the Mulder Fuh-Q Fest challenge. Challenge #10. I used two scenes from canon in this story. Canon is good up to Vienen then it is completely ignored, Essence and Existence didn't happen. 

Web site: http://slashingmulder.com/JoB/ 

Special thanks to Joey for beta-reading and correcting my mistakes, and to Bertina and Rose for reading the story and making suggestions. 

* * *

Harrisburg, PA 

Doggett glanced around the living room in the old English tutor home. A slight scent of spiced cigarettes hung in the air, mingling with the smell of lemon furniture polish. The decor was very masculine with dark mahogany woodwork and dark green walls. The seating was sturdy leather. A fire blazed in the hearth; over it, on the wooden mantel were several framed photographs of two men who were clearly lovers. A series of black and white Ansel Adam framed photographs filled one wall. 

His eyes fell on a bookcase that contained dozens of leather bond classics, by the looks of them, Doggett deduced they were only for show. The bindings had no creases from wear that would indicate they had been read. His eyes traveled down to the bottom shelf and alighted upon a familiar book, the same book he had found buried inside Mulder's closet. That book had been what brought Doggett here or more to the point the letters hidden inside. He stood and walked over to the bookshelf and picked up the high school yearbook and leafed through it until he found what he was searching for among the dozens of signed passages and well wishes from various students. 

[Marty, you were my strength during a time in my life when I didn't think I could go on. I wish that I had your courage to accept who I am, but unfortunately I'm not that brave. I hope you have a happy and successful life. Love always, Fox] 

Doggett had thought he'd find more in the yearbook than such a brief note. The Fox Mulder he had come to know while investigating his disappearance was an eloquent writer. And considering what this Martin Leeds had meant to him, Doggett had been expecting to find at least several paragraphs. 

"Agent Doggett, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting," Martin said as he walked back into the room. 

Doggett closed the yearbook and placed it back on the shelf. "That's perfectly all right. When was the last time you talked to Fox Mulder?" 

Martin was a small balding man. He was a political science professor at the local community college. "It's been ten years since I've spoken to him. The last time was when he called to tell me that he had broken up with Tim. Fox needed a shoulder to cry on. I was the only one in his life that he could talk to about this who would understand. It's not easy being gay, Agent Doggett, especially in the profession that Fox had chosen. But then as a straight FBI agent you'd know how gays are viewed there better than I." 

Doggett let that statement pass. "Who's Tim?" 

"Fox never told me his last name only that he was a cop in Baltimore. Do you think he had something to do with Fox's disappearance?" 

"I don't know. I'm not ruling anyone out as a suspect." Doggett jotted down the information in a small notebook. "Do you know of anyone who might have wanted to hurt Mr. Mulder?" 

"No." Martin sighed and walked over to the mantel and looked at the photographs. 

"In high school I was in love with Fox. I never thought I'd get over him. It took years and falling in love with Steve to help me move on." Martin turned back to Doggett. "Fox was a sweet kid, I've known him since elementary school. After his sister was abducted his family fell apart. Fox's father started drinking and his mother withdrew into herself. Fox was left mostly to fend for himself. To make matters worse the parents of most of his friends would no longer allow their kids to play with him. They were worried for their children's safety. That isolated him even further. The ostracism eased by the time we were in high school. Considering everything he'd been through and the way he'd been treated, Fox was still the kindest and most compassionate person I've ever known. I hope you're able to find him, Agent Doggett." 

"I'll find him. Thanks for your time, Mr. Leeds." 

Doggett left with thoughts of a young Fox Mulder on his mind. He couldn't imagine what it would have been like to have no one who cared about him at that age. Doggett's family, for all of their bickering, was full of love. He still received birthday cards from his folks, siblings, and cousins. The Doggett family gatherings were loud, heated, and enjoyable. He was beginning to feel sorry for Mulder. What had the holidays been like for him after his sister had disappeared? How did Mulder make it through day-to-day life with no one caring about him? 

Even as an adult, Mulder's life was filled with tragedy. Doggett knew that Mulder had been suffering from a fatal brain malady shortly before he disappeared. When his mother had committed suicide, Mulder would have already known that he was dying. The man had no one, not even Agent Scully, who he could seek comfort from. Life didn't seem to cut Mulder any breaks. Now he was missing and Doggett still wasn't sure if Mulder had made himself vanish or if he had been taken against his will. 

* * *

Six hours later found Doggett at Mulder's apartment in Alexandria. He'd been to the place dozens of times over the past three months. Now after his meeting with Martin Leeds he entered the place with a whole new impression of the man who lived there. The first thing he did was feed the fish. Then he walked around the apartment before stopping at the laundry hamper and looking inside. A gray T-shirt with sweat stains around the armpits was on top. He lifted it out, brought it up to his face, and sniffed. This was Mulder's scent... Doggett found it extremely arousing. 

Doggett carried the T-shirt back into the living room and sank down on the leather sofa. "Where are you, Fox?" 

He sat for several hours deep in thought trying to get inside Mulder's head while surrounded by the other man's possessions and scent. His fingers clutched at the T-shirt as he dozed off. 

His cell phone rang, waking him with a start. He answered it while wondering who would be calling so late at night. "Agent Doggett," he said. 

He listened before responding, "Are you sure it's her?" 

Doggett pulled out his notepad and jotted down what the caller was telling him. "Okay, thanks." 

Standing he headed for the door, before stopping in his tracks. Doggett realized he was still holding the gray T-shirt. He glanced back at the bedroom doorway then shook his head and proceeded to leave the apartment. He needed to get into the office to investigate the caller's claim that Teresa Hoese was found barely hanging onto life in Helena, Montana. 

* * *

Three months later 

That morning at work, Kersh had offered Doggett a promotion, a chance to get out of the X-Files. Doggett had turned it down. He opted to stay working on the X-Files. 

On his way home that night Doggett stopped at Mulder's apartment. He couldn't say why he took it. Just that he needed to have something else of Mulder's to remember him by. Not that he would ever forget the man. In fact he'd pay good money to have the past six months of his memory erased. His obsession with Mulder had become unhealthy. At night when he laid in bed and closed his eyes, Doggett could not escape the sight and smell of him. Hours spent in the man's apartment over on Hegal, in addition to studying photographs and videos of Mulder, forever etched him on Doggett's mind. Doggett couldn't believe he had become obsessed with someone whom he had never met and who was now three months in his grave. 

"He's dead, get over him," Doggett muttered as he reclined on the sofa and propped a foot up on the coffee table while cradling a beer on his thigh. 

Maybe the brutality of Mulder's death and the lack of a firm suspect in his murder had something to do with his continued obsession. Doggett was determined to find the person or persons responsible if it were the last thing he did. 

Doggett took a sip of beer as he watched the images on the television set not really seeing them. His mind was too preoccupied. If he'd known that investigating Special Agent Fox Mulder's disappearance would come to affect him so deeply he would have turned the case down. He freely admitted that he had started the investigation with pre-determined prejudices against Mulder. It was hard not to have an opinion about someone who had become a legend within the FBI. Spooky Mulder... the flake from the basement who believed in aliens. The Golden Boy of the VCU who threw his career away to investigate bigfoot and other things that went bump in the night. Crackpot genius. The best analyst violent crime ever had working for them. 

The bodies of fellow FBI agents seemed to pile up in Mulder's wake. Reggie Purdue, Jerry Lamana, Barrett Weiss, Scott Blevins, Diana Fowley... And to top it off Mulder's former mentor in the Behavior Science Unit, Bill Patterson, had been committed to the nut house. Collateral damage or just plain bad luck? 

At the time, Doggett had wondered how A.D. Walter Skinner had survived being within Mulder's sun without being burned? But in truth, Skinner hadn't come through unscorched... his career sure hadn't. The A.D. had been shot, poisoned, and his wife had been killed; all three incidences could be linked back to his support of X-Files and Mulder. What surprised Doggett most, when he first met Skinner, was the man's loyalty to Mulder. That was until Doggett had dug into the X-Files and had gotten inside Mulder's head, and he found himself falling hard for the agent. 

Doggett sighed and held up the photograph of Mulder that he had taken from the man's apartment. It was something that wouldn't be missed; he had lifted it from a box of photographs and newspaper clipping. In those three brief months of investigating his disappearance, Doggett's opinion of Mulder had gone from disdain to respect to infatuation. The man had been a fighter who had faced incredible odds in his quest for truth and justice. All Mulder lacked was a fucking cape. 

Over those three months, Doggett had discovered a lot about Mulder that even his partner, Dana Scully, hadn't known. She never found Mulder's stash of gay porn videos boldly hidden inside straight porn boxes. She never talked to people who had known Fox when he was in elementary school and high school. Doggett had done a thorough investigation into every detail of Mulder's life, until his investigation had come to a tragic conclusion when he and Skinner found Mulder's body in the woods three months ago. He should have gotten over the man by now, but it seemed that he was even more obsessed with him. Whenever he looked at a photograph of Mulder he wondered what it would have been like to kiss those lips? Doggett shook his head and finished his beer. Maybe he needed to see a shrink. 

Doggett was no longer sure if his decision to remain on the X-Files was for Scully or out of some warped loyalty to Mulder. How could he explain to anyone that he was in love with someone he had never met and who was dead and buried to boot? He really did need to have his head examined. 

Doggett tossed the photograph on the coffee table and headed into his bedroom. He kept on the gray T-shirt, stripped down to his boxers, and crawled tiredly under the covers. 

He was just nodding off when the phone rang. He reached for it and muttered a groggy, "Yeah." 

'It's Skinner. I want you to meet me at the Bureau in about twenty minutes.' 

"For what?" 

'I got a call from the police pathologist down in Wilmington, North Carolina. Fishermen pulled in a dead body fifty miles offshore, which they've now ID as Billy Miles.' 

"Billy Miles?" The name rang a bell but Doggett couldn't place it. 

'Kid from Oregon. He was abducted same time Mulder was last May,' Skinner said. 

"So what's the big hurry now?" 

'Now he's alive,' Skinner said and hung up. 

"What the hell?" Doggett sat for several seconds staring at the phone. He rubbed the palms of his hands over his face before climbing out of bed and quickly dressing. 

After he was dressed, Doggett drove his truck to the parking ramp at the Hoover building, during the drive he thought about Skinner's telephone call. What did it mean that Billy Miles was alive after his dead body was pulled from the water? Doggett snorted. It could only mean one thing. The fishermen had to have been mistaken. People just don't return from the dead. He parked and waited until Skinner pulled up beside him. Doggett climbed into Skinner's passenger seat. 

"You told Agent Scully any of what you told me?" Doggett asked. 

"No." 

"My strong recommendation, sir. Don't. This thing pans out or not, you're going to reopen wounds that still need a lot of healing. Not to mention the fact that she's had a difficult pregnancy. You know that as well as anybody." He saw no reason for Scully to be reminded of Mulder's death all over again. Better to let sleeping dogs lie. 

"I appreciate your concern, Agent Doggett, but I wouldn't have told her anyway... certainly not where we're going." 

"Where are we going?" 

Skinner looked at him but didn't answer right away. 

"Sir?" 

"Raleigh, North Carolina. I've arranged for Mulder's body to be exhumed. I need to know if he's alive, Agent Doggett." 

Doggett felt his belly churn. He couldn't handle digging up Mulder's grave, not now, not ever. How could Skinner be crazy enough to think that Mulder could have been alive when they buried him? What if they had buried him alive? No it wasn't possible. 

"We can't do that, sir." 

"We can't not do it, agent." 

"Think of what this will do to Agent Scully. If we open that coffin and find out that we had buried him alive, it will destroy her." Doggett didn't want to think about what it would do to him if the lining in the coffin had been clawed in Mulder's desperate attempt to escape. It was better not knowing that they killed him by burying him alive than to go through the nightmares that knowledge would bring. 

"We'll deal with it." Skinner's fingers clenched the steering wheel as he stared out at the road. 

It took them over two hours to reach Raleigh. Skinner drove into the snow-covered graveyard and parked. Doggett took a deep breath as they got out and made their way across the cemetery. 

"I'll say it again. We're opening up more than a grave here," Doggett said. He shivered as a cold wind blew through the trees. 

"I respect that, Agent Doggett, but under the circumstances I think not digging it up would be far more regrettable, don't you?" 

"No. I think this is insanity." 

"Yeah, well, personally, I couldn't live with the doubt," Skinner said as they made their way across the graveyard. 

Doggett could tell by the sound of Skinner's voice that it would be impossible to convince him of the folly of this action. He had to try anyway. "That what? That we buried a man alive? We found Mulder, you and me together. We saw the same body. Mulder wasn't just dead he'd been dead for days. Had to have a closed casket for crying out loud! The body was too far gone and that was three months ago!" Doggett swallowed down bile as he saw the backhoe digging up Mulder's grave. 

Skinner watched sadly as the grave was dug up. "The kid they pulled from the ocean, Billy Miles, from the extensive tissue necrosis, they think he could've been in the water for months. Heart beat, rate of metabolism-- it slowed to imperceptibility. I mean... the body had rigor. For all intents and purposes, he was dead. It's a fluke that the doctor even noticed." 

"I don't believe it. I don't believe I'm even standing here." Doggett watched the backhoe with dread. How could Skinner possibly believe that Mulder might be still alive inside that box? It's been three goddamn months. No one could have survived being buried for that amount of time. This was sheer foolishness. 

They watched as the coffin was lifted out of the grave and loaded into a hearse before walking back to Skinner's car and driving in silence to the morgue. 

When they arrived at the morgue it was filled with reporters and cameramen. They crowded the small space. 

"What the hell is this?" Doggett asked. 

"Assistant Director Skinner?" A man walked over to them. 

"Yes." 

"Arthur Gaffin, County Coroner." 

"I asked you to keep this thing low key," Skinner said. 

"Word spreads. Exhumation's big news any day of the week and you had the body moved to another county to a specific pathologist. Well, that takes people and paperwork," Gaffin said. 

"I want these people out of here," Skinner growled. 

Doggett remained civil as he turned to the people and ordered, "All right, listen up, ladies and gentlemen. As much as you're here to see the horror show I'm not letting that casket open up until we get some privacy. It's a private matter." 

They turned and filed out of the room. 

"Thank you," Doggett said. 

"Agent Skinner, so no one's confused, this is a completely different scenario. I'm only here 'cause you asked for me. I don't expect to find anything in this box but a dead man. It's not going to be Curse of the Mummy, okay? No claw marks on the lid of the coffin," Doctor Francis Orovetz said. 

Doggett grimaced and whispered to Skinner, "I'll say it again... insanity." 

The coffin lid was opened. Doggett stayed back, he didn't want to see what was inside. Skinner moved forward and looked into the coffin. 

"He looks the same as when we buried him three months ago," Skinner said. 

The Doctor pulled out his stethoscope and listened. "Shit." He hurriedly wheeled an electroencephalograph machine over, hooked up electrodes to Mulder's temples, and turned on the machine. An EEG reading was printed out as a pen moved across the strip of paper, recording low brain activity. "He's alive." 

Doggett paled as he stepped forward and looked at Mulder's scarred gray face, he muttered, "Jesus." 

"I doubt it," Skinner said as he placed a hand on Doggett's shoulder while they watched the doctors and technician prepare Mulder for a trip to the hospital. 

* * *

The last week was a blur. Doggett felt guilty about his opposition to exhuming Mulder's body. How was he to know that the man could still be alive after three months? Agent Scully was right about one thing. As an X-File agent he should have had Mulder exhumed to find out the truth and not allow personal feelings to prevent him from doing his job. At least it all worked out in the end. Mulder's alive and on his way to a complete recovery. Even his scars were healing at a rapid rate. 

Doggett sighed as he opened his refrigerator, pulled out a beer, and carried it back into his living room. He had been surprised by the jealousy he had felt at seeing Scully comfort Mulder. He should be happy for Scully that the father of her baby was back. Instead he was jealous of her. 

God what had happened to him? How could one man affect him this way? 

* * *

Four weeks later 

The salt air smelled sweet after being inside rig's break room. Doggett was annoyed that Mulder had beaten him to the oilrig against orders. He'd been annoyed ever since Mulder shoved him inside Skinner's office two weeks earlier. What was it about the man that pushed his buttons and inflamed his ardor? He'd gone from infatuation for the man to irritation at himself for falling in love with him. They were like oil and water. 

Now he stood on the deck of the oilrig with Mulder. "I never would have believed it. These stories about you," he said as he looked into the other man's eyes. In this light they were an unbelievable deep green. 

A questioning look appeared on Mulder's face. "Really? What stories are those?" 

"That you can find a conspiracy at a church picnic." 

With a straight face Mulder said, "What church?" 

Doggett smiled and watched Mulder as he walked off, admiring how the denim hugged his sweet ass. Maybe this wouldn't be such a disaster after all, he thought. 

* * *

Hours later, Doggett had changed his mind. This was a disaster. He'd had the oilrig placed under quarantine solely on Mulder's word. Now he was hurrying to find the other agent, after being released by Diego Garza who had abducted him earlier. They had to get Garza off the rig. The man's life was in danger, although, in Doggett's opinion, Garza was also insane. The man believed spaceships were coming to the rig. As Doggett hurried to find Mulder, he ran into Bo Taylor. 

"Where's Garza?" Taylor asked. 

"I'm going to get Agent Mulder." 

Doggett turned his back on the man and was grabbed around the neck. He struggled with Taylor and was thrown to the ground. The man was surprisingly strong. He continued to struggle as Taylor kneeled over him. Black oil welled up in Taylor's eyes and Doggett experienced fear and a realization that Mulder had been telling the truth. Suddenly Mulder appeared behind Taylor and struck him again and again with a metal bar until Taylor dropped. 

Mulder tossed the bar away and helped Doggett to his feet. 

"Get up, Agent Doggett." He pointed to Taylor's unconscious body. "There's more where that came from." 

They hurried for the communication room. Once inside Doggett worked on getting the radio working while Mulder barricaded the door. Then someone started pounding on the door. Mulder armed himself with an iron bar and stood guard at the door as the pounding increased. 

"Agent Doggett!" 

"I'm working on it." He was only getting static on the radio as he continued to try to tune in a station. 

"I don't think the door is going to hold much longer!" 

The static changed to music. 

"Wagner?" Mulder looked at him exasperated as violins rose to Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries." 

"What do you want?" Doggett asked. 

"I take it back. It's perfect." 

Doggett finally got through to Scully. 

"Agent Doggett?" 

"Agent Scully, yeah, I'm right here." 

The door shook under the pounding and Mulder hurried back over to it. 

"Can you hear me," Scully asked. 

"Yes!" Doggett said. 

"What is that?" 

"That's someone knocking on the door," Mulder quipped. 

"Mulder, listen to me," Scully said. 

Mulder turned back to face the radio with an annoyed look. 

Scully started to fill them in but Doggett cut her off. 

"Right now we got bigger problems. We need a chopper." 

The door started to break under the hammering. 

"Well, that problem is rapidly becoming moot!" Mulder said. 

The next several minutes seemed to pass in a blur. The pounding on the door had stopped and they found themselves making a run for the deck. Doggett went back for Diego Garza with Mulder following. Doggett found Garza's dead body. 

"Is he coming?" Mulder asked from the doorway. 

"No." 

The sound of helicopters could be heard overhead as Mulder and Doggett continued to climb up to the main deck. They made it to the deck and notice several crewmembers approaching them. They ran in the opposite direction as flames leaped around them. They finally stopped at the edge of the deck and looked down into the churning sea below. A voice sounded over a loud speaker from the helicopter circling them. 

"ABANDON RIG!" The pilot points down toward the sea. 

"What's he saying?" Doggett asked. 

"I think he wants us to jump." 

They hesitated as they glanced at the great distance to the water. 

"Now, wait a minute, Agent Mulder, I'm in charge here. On two count." 

"How about a 20 count?" 

Doggett ignored him and counted. "One! Two!" 

They both jumped as the rig exploded behind them. They hit the water and were submersed. Doggett quickly swam back to the surface and glanced around for Mulder as debris, from the oilrig, rain down around them. He saw Mulder's body floating face down. His heart leaped to his throat in panic as he quickly swam over to Mulder and rolled him onto his back. Getting a firm grip on the other man's body, Doggett swam a few strokes to a piece of Styrofoam floating in the water. He held on to it with one arm and to Mulder with the other. 

"Don't worry I'm not going to let you go," he said as the waves threatened to tear Mulder from his grip. 

It was only a few minutes 'til Mulder regained consciousness. Mulder panicked at first but Doggett held him and whispered assurances in his ear that seemed to calm him. They continued to hold onto each other and the Styrofoam as a helicopter circled overhead. 

* * *

Four Months later 

Doggett stopped in front of the window of a wildlife art gallery in St. Paul, Minnesota. In the window was a painting of a snow-white fox. The fox was hunting a white rabbit through a snow-covered forest at dusk. The artist had captured the grace and cunning of the fox. Doggett would be lying if he didn't admit the painting reminded him of Mulder. 

"John, I'm ready. Let's get to the airport," Reyes said as she walked out of the drug store. They had stopped on the way to the airport so she could purchase a nicotine patch. 

"Just a second, Monica, there's something I want to purchase here." 

"What?" she asked, following him into the store. 

He ignored her as he made his way to the sales counter. "I'd like to purchase that fox picture in the window." 

The bored salesman perked up at having an instant sale. "Of course, sir, let me get it." 

Reyes followed the man over to the window. The salesman lifted the painting up and carried it back to the counter. He set it down and removed the price tag. 

"This is one of my favorite paintings by Tim Finch," the salesman gushed as he rang up the purchase. 

Reyes looked at it with a critical eye and shook her head. "That painting is so not you, John. I thought you hated winter. And that fox is about to make a meal out of that cute bunny." 

"I like it," Doggett said as he handed over his credit card then handed the man his business card. "I'd like it shipped to me in Falls Church, Virginia." 

"It will be an extra fifty-dollars for shipping." 

"That's fine." He signed the receipt. 

The salesman handed him a copy of the receipt. "It was a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Doggett. I'll ship the painting with UPS tomorrow. You should get it in two days." 

"Thanks. Come along, Monica, we'll be late for our flight," Doggett said as he strolled out of the store. 

"Where are you going to hang it?" 

"My bedroom." 

* * *

Two Months later 

Life had taken on a weird slant for Doggett. He felt like a smoker trying to kick the habit. The only reprieve he had to his insatiable obsession was when he and Reyes were out of town on a case. Even then he spent the lonely evenings in the motel room fantasizing about Mulder. When he was back in town he couldn't help driving by Mulder's apartment building, checking to see if his car was parked out front. 

He knew where Mulder jogged and where he shopped. And the bar Mulder went when he needed to be around other people. Doggett had stealthy followed him to all those places and observed him from a distance. One place he never followed Mulder to was Scully's. He wouldn't want her to find out about his obsession. 

Now he stood in front of racks of cards at his neighborhood drug store. In three days it would be Mulder's birthday. It was probably sappy but he felt that Mulder might appreciate receiving a card, even if it came anonymous. Doggett had thought of writing Mulder a letter and openly expressing his feelings, but that would open him up to being rebuffed. He just couldn't take that chance. 

He scanned through the huge assortment of Halloween cards before moving on to the birthday cards. Doggett read several humorous cards but rejected them; he wanted something sentimental... romantic. 

"Hey, Dogbird." 

Doggett cringed as he glanced down the aisle to find Langly and Frohike striding his way. What were they doing at his drug store? 

"Whose birthday?" Langly asked. 

"No one you'd know." 

"You don't have to be so grouchy," Langly said as he reached for a card on the shelf. 

Frohike looked over the cards and picked up one with a cat picture. "It's Mulder's fortieth birthday on Saturday, we're having a surprise party for him if you want to come over around seven p.m." 

Doggett couldn't believe his luck; before he could answer his cell phone rang. "Excuse me," he said as he pulled it out of his pocket and flipped it open. "Doggett." 

'Agent, I need you and Reyes on a flight to Tulsa ASAP. We had reports of strange lights witnessed by half the city before a six-member family vanished,' Skinner said. 

"We'll get right on it, sir." He couldn't conceal his disappointment as he closed the phone and slipped it back into his pocket. "Sorry, guys, I won't be able to make it. But thanks for the invite." 

"Too bad. Hey, we're having a Halloween party if you want to mark that on your calendar," Frohike said. "We're giving away a free year's subscription to the Magic Bullet for the best costume." 

"I'll think about it, Frohike." Doggett put the birthday card back on the rack. He'd pick one up in Tulsa. "I'll see you, guys, around." 

* * *

The case in Tulsa took them two weeks... two long weeks of living out of suitcases. After he got home, Doggett changed out of his suit and dressed in jeans and his old USMC sweatshirt. 

He desperately wanted to see Mulder, so drove to the man's apartment building as he had done on numerous occasions over the months since Kersh had fired Mulder. He parked across the street from the building and stayed inside the truck while looking up at the windows on the fourth floor. The windows were dark except for the flickering light of a television set playing in the living room. 

Doggett knew every detail of Mulder's apartment from the fish tank with its spaceship toy to the sparse kitchen, just like he knew every detail of Mulder's life. 

As he gazed up at the window, Doggett pictured Mulder sitting on the sofa with his pants unfastened and his dick in his hand masturbating while watching one of his videos. Doggett closed his eyes and sighed sadly, what he wouldn't give to be up there... to have his mouth replace Mulder's hand. The ache that he felt in his heart for the other man had become unbearable. 

What was he doing here? Maybe he should talk to Mulder instead of following him around like some moonstruck sap. 

Doggett snorted in disgust. "Yeah, just go up there and tell Mulder that you're in love with him. That would work. Not." 

Mulder loved Scully and Scully loved Mulder. They had a baby together. Mulder spent a lot of his time over at Scully's place. He'd even stayed overnight to help with the baby and babysat while Scully was at work. Doggett wondered why Mulder didn't just move in with her. Regardless of the gay porn, he knew Mulder was bisexual and had dated women. 

He'd been so involved in his thoughts that he started when the passenger door opened and Mulder climbed in. 

They stared at each other for several long seconds. 

Mulder reached up and pulled down a photograph of himself that was clipped to the visor. "I think we need to talk, don't you?" 

Doggett blushed and nodded. "I guess we do." 

"My apartment isn't a safe place for private conversations. There's an all night diner two blocks from here." 

"I know it," Doggett said as he started the truck. He tried not to look at Mulder as they drove the two short blocks. The man's scent alone was causing his dick to swell with desire. 

He parked the truck behind a police car and they climbed out. The crisp fall air helped to clear Doggett's head as they walked the few short steps up to the entrance. 

The diner was brightly lit with fluorescent lights. The white and black speckled vinyl floor had a high gloss sheen to it. The place smelled of frying bacon and coffee. A couple of cops sat at the counter drinking coffee and eating pecan pie, while a group of college age kids filled a large corner booth. 

Doggett and Mulder made their way to a small booth in the back of the diner near the restrooms. 

A middle-aged waitress came over as they settle their butts on the red vinyl seats. "Can I get ya, boys, some coffee?" 

"I'll just have water," Mulder said as he opened a menu. 

"Same." Doggett knew his nerves couldn't handle any caffeine at the moment. 

After they were alone Mulder said casually, "I've noticed you following me several weeks ago. What's going on, Agent Doggett?" 

Doggett figured it was time for a complete confession. He could only hoped that Mulder wouldn't punch him in front of the cops. "I didn't plan for this to happen, Agent Mulder..." 

"Mulder or Fox, you choose. I haven't been an agent for six months." 

Doggett raised an eyebrow. Mulder didn't even let Scully call him Fox. "Look, Fox, are you going to interrupt or let me get this over with?" 

Mulder smiled. "Go ahead, I'll try not to interrupt." 

This was going to be harder than Doggett thought. All that he wanted to do at the moment was lick that sexy mole on the side of Mulder's face before he kissed those lips. "When I was investigating your disappearance, I got to know everything about you. I found your gay porn. I know about the year you had a committed relationship with another man and wore his ring. I even talked to your first male lover." 

"You talked to Marty?" 

Doggett nodded. 

Mulder sighed, "We were only sixteen, it didn't get any further than hand jobs. Coach Banks caught us under the bleachers in the gym. When my Dad found out, he used his belt on my backside. Afterward he arranged with a friend who had a daughter at my high school for me to take her to the prom." His lips turned up in a slow smile. "Despite it all, I did have a fun time at the prom." 

Doggett chuckled. "I had a similar experience in high school. But when my Daddy found out he hauled my butt down to the Marine recruiting station in Atlanta. I was off to boot camp the day after I graduated." 

Mulder laughed. "At least my Dad didn't go that far." 

The waitress came back with two glasses of water. "Are you ready to order?" 

Mulder gave her a charming smile. "I'll have a bowl of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich." 

The waitress smiled back falling for Mulder's charm. "Would you like fries or chips with your sandwich?" 

"Fries." 

She turned to Doggett. "What can I get ya?" 

Doggett didn't think he could eat anything but ordered anyway just to get her to leave them alone. "Pastrami on rye with chips." 

The waitress left to put in their order. 

"So what are you saying, John?" 

"I hope you don't find this crazy, but the deeper I immersed myself into investigating your disappearance the closer I felt toward you. I felt connected to you." Doggett picked up the water and took a sip. "I found it impossible to detach myself, even after we found your body." 

"Is that why you've been stalking me?" 

Doggett bristled at the term stalking. "Look, Fox, I know that you're in love with Dana. I really don't expect anything from you. I just need to work this out...." He started to stand, but Mulder reached out and grabbed his wrist. 

"Sit down, we haven't finished talking." 

Doggett sank back down in the booth. "I don't know what else to say." 

"Then why don't you listen while I clear up a few things." 

"What things?" 

"Scully and I aren't lovers. We've never had sex." Mulder looked into Doggett's eyes while he spoke. "She's my best friend and the mother of our child, but Scully is not my lover." 

"Do you want to explain having a child with her?" 

"She wanted to have a baby and asked me for a donation." 

The waitress came back with their order and set the plates in front of them. She could tell that they were having a serious conversation so she quickly departed. 

Mulder picked up a fry and sucked the salt off suggestively before eating it all the while staring at Doggett. "You have amazing blue eyes. Blue is one of my favorite colors," he said. 

"You being red green colorblind I can see why." If Doggett didn't know any better he'd say the man was flirting with him. 

"If you know me so well, how come you didn't discover that my relationship with Scully was purely platonic?" 

"Have you ever tried to get any personal information out of Agent Scully?" Doggett found himself relaxing. 

Mulder chuckled. "Scully can be pretty tight-lipped. She did say that you were above reproach, and that's pretty high praise coming from her." He sucked on another fry. 

A shiver ran down Doggett's spine and he quickly pulled his eyes away and looked down at his untouched sandwich. "What's going on here, Mulder? What game are you playing?" 

"I've been thinking about you. We made a good the team on the Galpex Oil case." 

"We barely made it off that oil rig alive," Doggett said. 

"But we did make it." Mulder picked up his sandwich and dunked it in the soup. "You don't have to park outside my apartment building, you could come up." 

Doggett looked at Mulder skeptically. "You're not yanking my chain?" 

"Eat your sandwich. Then you can take me home and find out." Mulder's eyes sparkled with amusement. 

Doggett picked up his own sandwich and took a bite, deciding to play along and see where this led. "You haven't been looking for a new job yet." 

Mulder shrugged. "I've been working on a book and trying to pull myself together. It hasn't been easy. At times I feel so detached from this world." 

"Have you seen a professional?" 

"You mean a psychologist?" 

"Yeah." 

"No. I can't talk to a stranger about what I've gone through. I'll be fine." 

Doggett heard the pain in Mulder's voice. He reached across the table and touched the other man's arm. "Talk to me then." 

Mulder gave him a sad smile and nodded then went back to eating. 

After they finished eating, Doggett drove them back to Mulder's apartment. He parked and turned off the engine then looked at Mulder. "If I go up to your apartment with you, I'm not going to be able to keep my hands off you. Are you sure you want this?" 

"John, I've only felt totally safe once since I returned after being abducted. Do you know when that was?" 

"No." 

Mulder reached over and held Doggett's hand while looking into his eyes. "When I regained consciousness after we had jump off that oil platform. I found your arm around me keeping us afloat with a small piece of Styrofoam and I knew that you wouldn't let me drown. I was safe as long as you were holding me." He leaned over and kissed Doggett. 

Doggett shifted sideways, pulled Mulder into his arms, and deepened the kiss. It was better than he had imagined. Mulder's mouth was soft and warm... delicious. When a hand cupped his erection, Doggett nearly came in his pants. 

"I'm looking forward to this," Mulder said as he squeezed the hard flesh through the denim. 

"You're going to be disappointed if you continue to touch me there." Doggett moaned. 

Mulder pulled his hand away. "Then we better get up to my apartment." 

They scrambled out of the truck, hurried down the sidewalk and into the building like a couple of love struck teenagers. They couldn't keep their hands off each other as they rode the elevator up to the fourth floor. 

When the door to the apartment closed behind them, Doggett pushed Mulder up against it and claimed his mouth for another hot kiss. Mulder's hand went behind John's neck and pulled him closer. Doggett felt an equal hardness to his own as they rubbed against each other. He moaned into Mulder's mouth and reached between their bodies to unbutton their jeans. 

Mulder's fingers grabbed the bottom of Doggett's USMC sweatshirt and pulled it up. They had to stop kissing as the shirt was pulled over his head and tossed across the room. That gave Doggett a chance to remove Mulder's black, v-neck, sweater, and undershirt before they fell back on each other hungrily... bare chest against bare chest. 

Doggett buried his nose in the crook between Mulder's neck and shoulder. He breathed in the intoxicating scent as he licked the salty flesh. A smile spread across his lips at the sounds of pleasure coming from Mulder. 

"Oh God, John, I need you bad..." 

They rocked harder and faster, their hips moving in an erotic dance. 

Doggett moaned as he stiffened and came. He held onto Mulder as he caught his breath. "I'm sorry, Fox, I couldn't hold off." Doggett placed his hands on the wooden door on either side of Mulder's head and looked him in the eye. 

Mulder snickered as he placed John's hand over his damp groin. "And you think I could? I've been fantasizing about you for months." Mulder grabbed John's hand and pulled him toward the bedroom. "Let's get out of these sticky pants." 

Had he just heard Mulder right? Had Mulder really fantasized about him? After so many months of desiring the man, Doggett felt like he had walked through the looking glass and he hoped this dream wouldn't end too quickly. 

They stripped while watching each other. 

"You're one fine looking man, John Doggett," Mulder said. 

Doggett placed his hand on Mulder's bare chest. He felt the taut muscles and warmth of the flesh beneath his palm. "Fox, I know what I want but I need to know what do you want?" 

Mulder leaned in and swiped his tongue across John's lips before kissing him, slow, deep, and wet. "I want someone who will understand me. Tim never could that's why we only lasted less than a year together." 

Doggett's hands caressed down Mulder's back and settled on his hips. "He didn't understand why you would put finding your sister ahead of him." 

"Tim became jealous of Samantha. I found the X-Files while we were living together... that was the final straw." 

"I would have understood. When my son was abducted nothing could have stopped me from searching for him." 

"I'm sorry about your son. A parent should never lose a child that way." Mulder hugged him. "And to answer your question, I want you, John." 

Doggett smiled as he returned the hug. "This must be an X-File." His eyes fell on the dresser where the birthday card he had sent Mulder from Tulsa was displayed. 

Mulder followed his eyes. "I asked the Gunmen to invite you to my surprise birthday party. I was disappointed that you couldn't make it. I really appreciated getting the card even though you didn't sign it." 

"You planned it? You didn't find my following you around creepy?" 

"I found it sweet and weird. And I like weird." Mulder pulled him into the bathroom as they talked. He soaped up a washcloth then cleaned the sticky come off John's groin before cleaning himself. 

Doggett leaned against the sink with his eyes closed as Mulder tenderly washed him. His penis began to swell again. "Are you going to their Halloween party, Fox?" 

"Sure, that was our backup plan in case you couldn't make my birthday. I even had costumes planned for us." 

"How did you know I'd go? And if I went then how would you have gotten me to wear a costume? I don't wear costumes." 

"Scully. She'd do anything for me. And I have a feeling you'd do anything for her." 

"God you're weird and right," Doggett said. He was fully aroused again. He took a hold of Mulder's hand and pulled him back into the bedroom. "C'mon, I want to make love to you." 

Mulder smiled. "I'm glad you're here, John." 

"So am I. And, Fox, I hope you don't plan for us to go as Star Trek characters." 

"No. I had Star Wars in mind...." Mulder gasped as Doggett tackled him onto the mattress. 

Doggett looked down at Mulder's beautiful face and felt like he had finally come home. "Okay, as long as I'm Han Solo...." He then silenced Mulder's protest with a kiss. 

* * *

The end.   
  

If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to Jo B


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